Knockout":1f006ssg said:
Oh, I did that and it almost cracked my window and send my wife into a frenzy. I was asking if it can stick my amp into 4 ohm hole on one end, and into 16ohm on the cab, how much difference would that make vs 4 into 4.
What happens in terms of sound when mismatching (compared to proper matching of impedance
Amp's 8 ohm output using a 16 ohm speaker load: the sound will be more compressed/flat. (Even moreso if you use the amp's 4 ohm output.)
Amp's 8 ohm output using a 4 ohm speaker load: the sound will have more spikes particularly in the lows and highs. (Even moreso if you use the amp's 16 ohm output.)
It
won't help reduce volume much, and it's
not a good idea to mismatch that much (in case you turn your amp up and cause a problem).
Anyway
be sure you read this point, and the one below it:
http://aga.rru.com/FAQs/technical.html#imp-1
That's what you need to know about impedance matching, why it's a bad idea to arbitrarily mismatch (much, anyway). Keep in mind something else not in that article: if you have a dodgy connector (dirty jack or cable end for instance), any impedance mismatch you do is magnifying the problem you already have. Imagine quickly plugging/unplugging your cabinet while you're playing...especially if you do it while playing loud. It's like that. Times like that are when the magic smoke gets released, and once it's out it can't be put back in.
List of things that become destroyed in that case (usually 2 or more of the following
tubes, transformers, capacitors, screen grid resistors, even the sockets themselves (due to high voltage arcs which leave conductive material embedded in the sockets). It's generally unwise to mess around with impedance mismatching.
What will help you: turning the volume down. (And if you want to "turn it up loud" but "have it be really quiet" too: use an attenuator.)
